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- Pickle Snyder
January 20, 1934 — December 11, 2024
Clara Eloise "Pickle" Thomsen Snyder January 20, 1934 to December 11, 2024
Knud and Rena (Rossen) Thomsen welcomed their fifth child and fourth daughter on January 20, 1934, in rural Frontier County, Nebraska, near Curtis. They enlisted the help of their family in naming their new baby, with all of them putting their favorite name (possibly their own) in a hat. Ultimately, the name Clara Eloise was drawn out, and for the first six years of her life, she went by her middle name. When she was six, Eloise had her tonsils removed and all she would eat was dill pickles. Her dad started calling her Pickle, and that was her name for the next 84+ years.
Pickle adored her siblings Robert, Hilda, Luella, and Delila (Pye). The tales of their shenanigans were legendary and usually ended with Bob telling his sisters, "Don't tell the folks," and they never did. Pickle also had several cousins in the Curtis area who would become life-long friends. She attended a rural school south of Curtis, where she discovered her love of reading. Pickle would attend high school at the University of Nebraska School of Agriculture in Curtis where she graduated with the Class of 1951.
She often spoke about going with her Mom and sisters to the North Platte Canteen during World War II to serve sandwiches to soldiers as they traveled across the U.S. After graduation, Pickle worked in her Mom's cafe in Curtis and was also a telephone operator. She was very creative and sewed her own clothes, often adjusting the patterns to fit her personal style. Pickle loved to dance, and legend has it she may have danced on a tabletop or two in her day. She also enjoyed the simple things in life, like a pot or two of coffee, a drag on a cigarette, and a cold beer.
She married Daryl Snyder on March 17, 1957, in her Aunt Elsie and Uncle Pete's kitchen in a double ceremony with her cousin Kenny and his bride Dolly Nelsen. They spent most of their married life in Grant, Nebraska, where they owned the Grant Bowl. They sold the bowling alley in 1982, and Pickle worked as a cashier at the Coop until her retirement in 1999.
Pickle and Daryl were proud parents to their four children - Lois, Deanna, Jennifer, and Steve. She also had a special relationship with Daryl's brother Gary, whom they helped raise after his Mom died in a car accident in 1957. Pickle and Daryl taught their children how to be thoughtful people who worked hard and also enjoyed life. Often known as the baby-whisperer, Pickle's greatest joy in life was being a Grandma to Samantha, Dane, Ryan, Elizabeth, Hailey, and Erik.
Pickle is survived by her children Lois (Rick) Jacobs of Lincoln, Deanna (Allen) Aurich of Sidney, Jennifer Snyder of Lincoln and Steve (Michelle) Snyder of Grant; her grandchildren Samantha (Matt) Sinclair of Lincoln, Dane Aurich of Sidney, Ryan Aurich of Lincoln, Elizabeth (Colton) Wurst of Gresham, Hailey (fiance Logan Mendenhall) Snyder of Pueblo, Colorado and Erik Snyder of Grant; great-grandchildren Sawyer, Ava and Hudson Sinclair and Charlie, Creed and Maverick Wurst; sister Luella Glaze; sister-in-law Veda Thomsen; and brother- and sister-in-law Gary and Gail Snyder; and several nieces, nephews and other relatives.
She is preceded in death by her husband Daryl; her parents Knud and Rena Thomsen; infant brother Harold Thomsen; brother Robert Thomsen; sister Hilda Leachman and her husband Jake; sister Delila (Pye) Cooper and her husband Keith; brother-in-law Gorman Glaze; father- and mother-in-law Faye and Lois Snyder; sister- and brother-in-law Sharalyn and Neal Harr; nieces Marianne Cooper and Sharon Dam; and nephews Oscar Thomsen, Ronald Glaze and Mike Cooper.
A memorial has been established in Pickle's memory for later designation. Condolences may be shared at bullocklongfuneralhome.com, where the services will be streamed live.
Services will be on Friday, December 20, at 10 a.m. at the Grant United Methodist Church, with Pastor Ceciliah Igweta officiating. Burial will be at Fort McPherson National Cemetery at Maxwell.
Visitation will be on Thursday, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m., at the Bullock-Long Funeral Home in Grant.
Bullock-Long Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
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1934 - 2024 (90 years)
